Arabian (Swimming) Nights!
by Kyameru
Summary: Based on the ending theme song (Splash Free!), Nanase Haruka is wandering boy in search for the best place to swim. Unfortunately, the son of a famous/wealthy King (Matsuoka Rin) took all the water for himself, as water is used to prove power throughout land. Haruka befriends certain people and on his journey, continues to search for water. Starring Haru, Nagisa, Mako, Rei and Rin.
1. Chapter 1: Journeyman

A young teen was walking through the desert. It was extremely hot today, but the teen continued on his journey. He held a rope in his left hand, dragging a camel he had taken from home. His belongings were being carried by the camel. A sandstorm was coming. The teen felt it in his bones. He hadn't reached town yet, but before him was a huge sandstorm. The camel was refusing to budge. The teen, whose face was covered by a cloth walked towards what seemed to be an abandoned house. The camel followed him after taking notice of the broken mud house. Although the sandstorm was right in front of them, they had enough time to make it to the house. The boy buried himself near the corner and hid the camel's face to avoid its eyes being hit by the sandstorm.

An older boy, with light brown hair was walking through the desert, "Wow, that was a powerful sandstorm. I hope I find him."

The boy with light brown hair left his home after the sandstorm. He thought he saw a boy walking with his camel through the desert. It would have been crazy if the boy he witnessed was in the blown away with his camel. His siblings were scared for him, but he had to find the boy. He walked a bit farther away from town and looked down from the top of the desert sand. There was an abandoned house, but he doubted the boy was there. He was about to return to town when he heard a small grunt. He turned to see the camel, it was camouflaged with the sand and the broken wall. He ran down the desert, looking for the boy. The camel grunted again. Its master was on the desert sand. The boy was flustered at first and didn't know what to do. He bent down his knees and picked up the teen. He was quite light, but he noticed the teen's short blade on his belt.

"Ahhh! This is no time to get scared!" He threw the teen over his shoulder and took the handle of the camel and walked back to town.

The journeyman was sinking. He looked upwards and realized he was surrounded by water, "I have finally found it." He said and reached upwards.

"Hey!" The brown haired boy yelled at the teen.

The teen opened his eyes instantly and got up from the bed. His eyes were the color of water. He looked around him and realized he had somehow made it to town. His camel was outside grunting at him and chewing on some dried leaves. _Dried leaves?!_ The boy jumped out of the bed and tried to get out, but unsuccessfully got up. The brown haired boy caught the teen from falling and positioned him to sit.

"Who are you?" The black haired, blue eyed teen asked.

"That's my question!" He yelled at the teen, "I mean, how could you be wandering on the outskirts of town in the middle of a sandstorm!"

A young boy and girl pounced on the boy who yelled at the teen, "Big bro! He's awake!"

The climbed off their elder brother and climbed onto the bed. Their curiosity led them to sit on the teen's lap. They looked at him and climbed on him. The young boy sat on his shoulders and examined his head. The young girl continued to sit comfortably on the teen's lap. Then she turned around.

"Hey, mister! Where are you from? Why'd you come to our town in the middle of a sandstorm?" She paraded with her questions.

"That's no fair! I wanted to ask him that!" The young boy told his sister.

"Now, now. Get off of him. We don't know if he's a good guy or not," He told his siblings as they got off, "Even though I did just bring him into the house."

The teen had dark hair, with blue eyes. He was dressed in a half shirt. His belly showing, but his features were really striking for a teen who was shorter than the brown haired boy. He was mostly dressed in white, although he had a white and blue headdress to cover himself from the desert heat. He looked fairly well, despite being covered in sand from the storm. He short blade was placed on the table across from him. He tried to reach for it when the brown haired boy took it off his hands.

"I'm Tachibana Makoto. Who're you and why do you have this?" The brown haired boy introduced himself, although he sounded more worried than threatening.

The black haired boy sighed, "Nanase Haruka."

The brown haired boy heard a loud growl. He looked at his younger siblings who shook their heads. The black haired boy looked up at his savior. His stomach growled again. Makoto sighed.

"I guess you need to eat something." He went towards the kitchen, which wasn't very clean.

His mother and father were out working. He didn't know what to cook. But he realized he couldn't cook at all. He took out a mackerel and decided it was alright to just grill it. _But how do I grill it?_ Haruka got up and took the mackerel and started to place it over the fire. He made enough for his savior and his siblings. The kids ate their mackerel's with a smile.

"Hey, mister. You cook way better than our big bro." They broke out into a laugh.

Their big brother was embarrassed, "By the way, Haru-chan. What were you doing out there?"

Haruka stopped eating for a second and looked at the brown haired boy, "Drop the -chan will you? I'm not a girl."

"I know. But really what is a young boy like you traveling with just a camel and some belongings doing?" He asked.

His eyes were completely focused on Haruka. Haruka continued biting into the mackerel and replied, "I'm a journeyman."


	2. Chapter 2: Town of Merchants

"Wha-What?!" Makoto dropped his mackerel, leaving it there on the ground.

His siblings stopped eating and looked up at him, "What's wrong big brother?"

Makoto drew back a breath a little. He was a bit shocked. _A journeyman? Doesn't that basically mean he's a nomad?_ He thought to himself. The brown haired boy looked over Haruka. There was something strange about him. How could a nomad like him have a camel? Camel's were really expensive nowadays. The price of a camel would take a large sum of anyone's currency. The only people who would have a camel would be the King and his family and the council members. Makoto's younger brother climbed into his lap and fell fast asleep. A smear of grease still on his lips from the mackerel.

"How is it that a young man like you...?" The brown haired boy began to say.

Haruka completely ignored him, looking from side to side. The thing that he was desperately searching for was definitely not in the room he was staying in. Makoto's younger sister started to drift off to sleep. She placed her head on Haruka's arm and fell fast asleep. It's been ages, she felt, since her brother and she had eaten anything so delicious.

The little girl mumbled a quick, "Thank you," before drifting off and in case the young journeyman would leave.

Makoto apologized for his little sister's behavior. Haruka didn't mind it at all. He watched as the brown haired boy placed his younger sister and brother on the bed where Haruka was sleeping. The younger boy stretched his arm, accidentally hitting his older sister's shoulder. Makoto chuckled to himself. It had been a while since he had seen them sleeping next to each other. He forgot about the teen behind him and took Haruka outside his house.

"Haru-chan, why are you traveling? Are you searching for something?" Makoto asked.

Haruka looked at the brown haired boy, "Firstly, drop the '-chan' and yes, I am searching for something."

"Like what, Haru-chan?" He completely ignored the first half of what the teen had said.

Haruka sighed, "Water."

Makoto froze. _This teen...he traveled all this way...JUST FOR WATER?! _He started to laugh, but instead chuckled while holding his stomach. Was Haruka for real? Although water is scarce, currently all the water had been held by the King's son. The only time his family had gotten water was when the kind merchants sold it to them at a very little price. But many of the merchants didn't care. Now that he thought about it, he shouldn't have laughed at Haruka. His family is in dire needs of water. Makoto's parents were often away, trying to work for the merchants in order to obtain water.

"Why are you searching for water?" He asked Haruka.

The teen didn't hesitate to say this: "To swim."

Makoto started to chuckle a bit, but then gave a slight cough to remind himself not to laugh at him, "Why...do you want to swim?"

Haruka didn't want to say anything anymore. He was completely exhausted from his travel. The sandstorm had hit him harder than he had thought. His knees felt a bit weak. The camel caught its master in the nick of time. The camel grunted very lowly, urging its master to rest up for the next of their travels. Haruka pet his camel as thanks.

"What I do is none of your business. I just want to swim." He said before he started to walk towards a nearby inn.

Makoto watched the teen leave. Unexpectedly enough, the boy did not say very much. Only what he wanted to say or when there were questions asked of him. He wondered though, why was a boy about the same age as him searching for water? Haruka took his camel and started to leave. He wanted to continue his journey, but his body was currently out of order. He needed to rest for the day. Makoto ran up to the teen, hoping Haruka wasn't going to try to stay at an inn.

"Hey...Wait up, Haru-chan!" The brown haired boy shouted to him.

After what seemed like a couple of minutes, Makoto successfully convinced Haruka to stay at their place. They took his camel back to the sand house that Makoto's family had made that was mud-like. Makoto took the teen and showed him around town. For the area Makoto had lived, it wasn't very astounding. It was mainly filled with several poor people, but not poor to the fact where they wouldn't own their own homes. The brown haired boy took the seemingly rich journeyman to the better part of town. It was bustling with markets, mackerels were on sale, and several strange fruits grown from town.

"Welcome to the Town of Merchants!" Makoto smiled at Haruka.

Haruka turned his head away, making Makoto gasp at his sudden coldness. They continued onto the market, observing the people bargaining for a cheaper price in cloth. Some tried to buy water from a coming merchant, whom wore flashy clothes. They were by far the richest people Haruka had seen in town. The price of water was just too expensive, but the kind merchant settled for half of its price and pointed several townsman towards the small pool of water. Having seen this, Haruka immediately ran for the small pool and started to peel out of his clothes.

"Wha-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Makoto grabbed Haruka's shoulder, pushing him back away from the water.

"I want to swim," was all the journeyman said.

Several onlookers watched as the young teen wore some strange looking pants. Makoto knew what he was wearing. He just couldn't believe that the journeyman would be wearing swimming attire underneath the pile of clothes he had thrown aside. Before Haruka was about to jump into the pool, some horns sounded. The town ran. _He_ was coming. Haruka continued to jump in and swam.

"Wait! Haru-chan, you have to get out of the water!" Makoto looked flustered.

Something was going on, but Haruka didn't care. He just wanted to swim. He went underwater and continued to swim to his heart's content. Makoto kept calling him from on top of the water, when he heard an elephant's stomp head closer. He looked behind him to see one of the merchant's. Behind the merchant was his helpers, all riding on camels. Several girls with head veils that covered their faces were walking beside the camels and the merchant. _HE'S HERE!_


	3. Chapter 3: The Unfair Merchant

Makoto was completely stunned. The main boss merchant was here. The famous merchant of them all. He was practically famous for being a fat man, using every means to collect money from the town, otherwise he would take their water. _He was here last week! _Makoto thought. He felt dizzy looking up from where the merchant sat on top of his elephant. An elephant would cost highly, about 17 towns would be in constant debt for his spending. The girls led their master down the elephant and groped them as thanks. The girls winced, they didn't like it when their master did that. The merchant walked towards Makoto. Makoto, who was nervously fixing his headdress, smiled at the merchant. The merchant gave a loud **HUMPH!** and stormed towards the pool of water. He took big gulps of water, when he looked down again, he faced Haruka. Haruka was happy, even just for a tiny bit.

"Who?! _WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!_" He screamed, pointing at him.

Makoto told Haruka to get out as quickly as possible. The teen obeyed and left the small pool. The merchant was furious. He had drunken water when a boy had swam in it. It would be a major disgrace if the King heard about it. Haruka walked away like nothing was completely wrong about swimming. The merchant turned around, his fat belly moving from side to side and his chubby face wasn't helping him either. His stature was of a short man, his skin was a bit whiter than Makoto's, but not as white as Haruka's.

"I **DEMAND** to know who you are!" He yelled.

Haruka stopped. Makoto who was following closely behind him became nervous. The merchant stood his ground. His headpiece also helped him cover his neck to protect against from the heat of the sun. Several townsman came out from hiding, but not completely. Obviously the merchant, who had come through this town, had tyrannized them horribly. They were heavily taxed by his selfishness that even their best merchants would run from being taxed. Haruka looked into the merchants eyes and saw no mercy from him. He continued walking, not giving a care in the world, but thought about swimming again, except in a bigger pool.

"HEY YOU! I NEVER gave you permission to leave!" He continued to yell.

Haruka stopped again, but didn't turn around, "I don't need someone like you to order me around."

Makoto froze. He was hoping the teen wouldn't say anything, but his words would just anger the merchant and force him to tax heavily on them again. He snatched Haru by his arm and ran, being chased by the merchant's guards. The merchant screamed that if they did not catch them, they wouldn't be provided with food for the next 3 weeks. They had successfully gotten away from the guards, but Makoto felt pity towards them. The guards would be without food for 3 weeks. The teen and brown haired boy returned back. Haruka's camel grunted as it saw its master and lifted its head from the sand. Haruka patted his mode of transportation.

"Why..._Why _would you do that?" Makoto said while shaking.

Haruka looked back, Makoto was crying. His siblings woke up and ran up to him, asking him what was wrong. Makoto knew he couldn't blame the teen, but what would happen to the town? If he hadn't taken him in, then the town wouldn't have to suffer. The camel licked Makoto; its slime wet his face. He smiled. His siblings breathed a sigh of relief. Haruka apologized to Makoto, even though he was right about one thing. The town shouldn't allow their lives to be ordered around by some rich merchant. That night, Haruka slept next to his camel. Makoto pulled the blanket over Haruka.

"You sure are a strange one, Haru-chan." He smiled over the teen's sleepy face.

"Don't..." he heard the boy say, "...call me 'Haru-chan'."

The next morning, a decree was ordered by the merchant that if the town did not pay 18 thousand saudi riyals (Arabian currency), they would be forced out of their homes. The townspeople confronted the merchant's tent, hoping for an explanation. Several among them were merchants themselves. They clamored and demanded to know why he was being so horrible. _Well, he's always horrible though. _Makoto thought to himself.

"Stand back!" One of the merchant's guard pushed them back.

The guard took out his whip from which he carried from his side and whacked at some of the townspeople. The crowd broke and the merchant bursted laughing. The female servants felt terribly for the town, but they couldn't do anything against their master. Haruka, who happened to be on the spot, ran past the guards and punched the merchant. Some townspeople smiled, many of them gasped. The merchant was on the floor. He had been humiliated by this boy twice.

"**YOU **are sentenced to _death_!" He shouted.


	4. Chapter 4:Arrival of the King's Daughter

Days have passed by. The filthy rich merchant was even more richer. News of this reached a certain girl's ears and she was riding her camel on the way to town to observe if this was true. But judging by the way and how the heat struck her, she had to be sure that she was heading in the right direction. By the time she reached the town, it was almost as if the town were destitute. Ahead of her, an enormous amount of people had packed their belongings.

"Excuse me," the young lady called, "What is happening to this town?"

A male with dark skin, almost as black as night looked up at her, "If you're here to tour, I'd suggest you turn back."

The young lady's headdress covered almost her entire face. Her eyes were red and so was her hair. The male took a longer look at her face and suddenly dropped his bags. His wife, who was less dark than he, started to yell at him. The younger female decided it was time to move before she would be discovered. She tapped her camel with the back of her foot and the animal grunted and started forward.

"What is the matter with you?! You're already married to me! Stop looking at other girls!" The young girl heard the wife cry.

She knew that her identity had been given out, but it didn't matter. In the meantime she needed info about the merchant. Just the thought of him was enough to make her puke. His big fat belly, his horrible smile...OH! And the way he gropes the female servants. She felt her face boil with anger until her camel stopped.

"What's wrong?" She looked at the camel.

In front of her was an exquisitely beautiful muscle. She blushed. This was the first time in a long while that she had seen something so beautiful! She threw her headdress around, making it cover her face horribly that even her hair was covered. She looked at the males face that just happened to stare back at the camel. The boy stroked the camel's head and the animal blushed. It was incredibly comfortable.

"Ooooooy! Haru-chan!" An older boy called out, "Let's go back!"

The boy in front of her looked back. The girl looked as well. He was incredibly tall, but from where she was sitting, he was shorter than she. The brown haired boy panted a bit before speaking again.

"Haru-chan, you have to get out of here! Although I still don't know how you got away from the execution ground, you'd have to hide!" The taller boy said.

"Ex-EXCUSE ME!" The female yelled, "Is this the location where the merchant is?"

The dark haired boy left; leaving the taller boy to nod at her question and chase after him. She watched as the boy with beautiful muscles disappear. _That was good eye candy, but I lost sight of my goal for a while there. _The female thought and rubbed her forehead. She rode on her camel all around town and visited various places. The town was almost evacuated, but news of her arrival made them stay. This was bad. She accidentally revealed herself to someone in town. If news of this reached the merchant, he would no doubt try to kiss up to her and she wouldn't be able to stop him. She made her way to the center of town, where the merchant was and disguised herself as a male. Her headdress covered her hair and made it exceptionally hot.

"Merchant, I can't pay for this!" She heard a townsman cry out.

"Then you will either leave town or help me find that brat who punched me and kill him!" An angry booming voice replied.

The townsman left, a bit of tears in his eyes. She definitely wouldn't forgive him. Her camel grunted, which led the merchant's guards to walk over to her. They captured her and threw her at the merchant's foot. Yep, it was definitely him. They fat merchant who tried to use her father, but was eventually abandoned because of his stupidity. She wanted to vomit at his nasty face, but almost laughed at the spot where he was punched. It must have been the darker haired boy name "Haru". He had a real girly name, but not like she was to talk.

"Who is this?" The merchant asked as he sipped his drink from a golden cup.

"Caught him hiding. It seems he is rich." One of the guards answered the merchant.

"Well, strip him of everything he's got. No one leaves this town with goodies." She heard him say, "And to think this place still has someone with enough money."

She couldn't take it any longer. She tore off her headdress and revealed herself. The townspeople somehow surrounded her. The merchant's eyes bulged, which disgusted her even more. The merchant got off his mighty chair and was bowing. The guards and female servants did the same. The townspeople just watched silently. Her reddish hair and amber eyes were almost in flames. It was quite beautiful, but her face was terrifying.

"So! You would even steal from me!" She yelled at him, "Merchant! As of now, you are stripped of your title and forever in the people's debt until you have further inquired my notices! Firstly, give back the people's money you stole for your lousy elephant. Secondly, you have now become nothing more than the servant of the town from which you have stolen. And thirdly!" The townspeople gasped, "You are a disgrace for the rest of your life and will not be able to enter the palace!"

The merchant's face froze. This girl had wielded such power against him. Power with words! They all cheered. It had only lasted 3 days, but he was finally stopped. She stood over him and grabbed his merchant's badge that was awarded to him. With that, he would no longer be able to wield power. Even his servants were finally free. The tall boy thought she was a bit harsh, but when he saw her, he bowed along with the others. Only one person didn't. Haruka stood completely still. Everyone was whispering fiercely at him to kneel.

"Who is she?" He pointed at her.

Makoto froze, and so did the merchant. The red haired female was surprised. This was probably the first time someone had asked her this.

"She's Princess Gou!" They all screamed at him.

"CALL ME KOU!" She blushed.


	5. Chapter 5: The Next Town

Haruka watched as the people cheered for Princess Gou. He managed to slip out of the crowds and walked away towards his camel. He climbed onto its back and heard it grunt as it stretched its legs. He took his headdress and wrapped it around his head. The people finally restored their water from the merchant. Although most of the water were still missing from the Arabs. Makoto turned and realized he lost sight of Haruka in the crowd. He looked and spotted a camel walking in the opposite direction with its master on it. The despaired merchant watched as Haruka left without a word and vowed to kill him, when his own guards forced him on his legs and tied his arms with ropes.

"Haru-chan!" Makoto called out.

Haruka looked behind him. The brown haired tall boy ran towards him. He stopped his camel. The brown haired boy panted a bit. It was hard to get out from the crowd. At this point, the townspeople started to throw the princess into the air. Makoto and Haruka watched as her ponytail bounced as she screamed to be let down. They threw her up in the air one last time and she caught a glimpse of the black haired boy. The townspeople let her down and she ran for towards him. She saw the brown haired boy and called out to them.

"Heeey! Wait up!" She waved her arms.

Her red flaming hair swished from side to side. The crowd dispersed as they tried to get as much water as they could. Haruka smiled behind his headdress and stared at the female. She was really strange. But he didn't care all that much. Makoto and the princess stood next to each other. They both looked up at Haruka. Makoto smiled, which made the boy feel a bit awkward as he turned his head away from his gaze. The princess smiled at his muscles and realized that Makoto was watching.

"Ahem!" She coughed into her hand, "I've heard of you! You must be Haruka!"

Haruka's ears twitched as he heard his own name. He looked at her. Her red hair didn't strike him. She was not familiar to him, but she knew him. Why was that?

"Haruka-san, I've heard of your travels and was wondering if I could tag along with you." She explained.

Makoto screamed, "EHHHHH?!"

Haruka just stared at her and replied, "What does the princess want to do with me? I'm just a traveler in search of water."

"Well, actually..." She placed her finger on her face, "I'm not really a princess anymore. I decided to become a council member, but the council in the kingdom refused it without a thought. I just wanted to enter politics to help save my brother."

Makoto blinked, "Your brother? The PRINCE?"

Gou nodded, "My father used to love swimming. He loved the water, but ever since he got married to my mother..."

"I'm heading to the next town, are you coming or not?" Haruka interrupted.

Makoto sighed, "That is not how you say things to a princess."

Gou didn't mind. She returned back to her camel and walked it towards them and waved goodbye to the townspeople. They rode on their camels up until the abandoned building where Makoto rescued the boy. Makoto was standing next to the old house and waved. Haruka was a bit taken aback.

"Where are you headed to, Makoto-san?" Gou asked.

"I'm coming with you to the next town!" He answered her.

Haruka refused for a moment, "What about your family?"

Makoto explained that he was old enough to leave the house to help find out the source of the missing water. He told them that his siblings would be fine, because his mother had stopped working and decided to help her children. Makoto climbed onto one of the merchant's camel that he had taken and they were off for the next town.


	6. Chapter 6: Town of Wind

Haruka, Princess Gou and Makoto were on their way to the next town over. The Princess didn't complain at all. Although they were all sweaty from the heat of the desert. At some point, Makoto's camel had gotten tired and decided to sit on the desert sand. They had a hard time trying to get it back up when Haruka placed some of Makoto's things onto his camel. Makoto didn't want to burden the black haired boy and insisted he take it back, but Haruka's camel didn't mind the extra weight. After all, in the past it's master had placed a lot of things on its back.

"Are we almost there?" The red haired princess called out as a small breeze blew over them.

"Just follow me." Haruka replied.

Makoto was a bit tired, but otherwise he was ok. Haruka gave a piece of grilled mackerel to the brown haired boy. Where in the world did he keep it? Makoto thought. Princess Gou was more than happy to receive a bit of the grilled mackerel, because she couldn't stop staring at the black haired boy's muscles. This made Makoto think she was a bit crazy, but that was ok. He didn't mind her preferences. They reached the next town. It was bustling with loud noises. Children were running here and there, and the townspeople welcomed them. It was the time for this town's festival. They decided to get off of the camels and led them to a safe area in town and allowed their animals some feed that they received from the townspeople. The red haired princess tugged her headdress closer to her face so that no one could see her. She looked up to see Makoto, but there was no sign of Haruka anywhere. She panicked for a second and someone turned her head towards them. That person placed a mask onto her face.

"H-huh?" She said aloud.

She looked at the person's clothes and realized that it was Haruka. The same blue headdress dangling from his head to neck. He passed another mask to Makoto and he took it. They left and watched as people were dancing. For a festival, it sure was lively. Makoto was completely dazzled. It was like home, but with more people. And instead of markets, it was full of booths with accessories to sell and food passed around. He looked around so much that he begun to grow a bit faint.

"Are you alright?" He heard someone say behind him.

Haruka stood behind him, looking up at him with his mask on. He couldn't tell if he was really worried, but his tone of voice sounded so.

"Yeah, I'm ok." He smiled at the boy.

Makoto looked a bit more and spotted something. A dancer. He wasn't sure if it was a boy or girl, but the dancing drew him in. The princess followed the brown haired boy to the stage where the dancer was. It was beautiful. Something that Makoto had never seen before. Gou thought that the dancer was quite exquisite when all of a sudden, the dancer made eye contact with them. Even though the dancers had to wear a mask for the festival, this dancer was also looking at the audience. The dancer twirled in front of them and took a sash and placed it on Makoto's neck. The audience howled. Makoto and Gou had no clue what was going on when somebody explained that the dancer claimed Makoto as their husband. Makoto was stunned. Gou couldn't believe it either. But Haruka explained that it also meant that the dancer allowed them into their home. Makoto sighed, hoping it was just that. When the dance was finally over, the dancer grabbed the brown haired boy by the wrist and walked towards an alley.

"Hey, mister! You're a traveler, right?" The dancer asked.

Judging by the tone of voice, the dancer is a male.

"Er...Yes," Makoto replied, "I am."

"Awesome!" The dancer pulled off his mask and revealed himself, "Can you come over to my place to tell stories of your travels?"

Haruka and Gou caught up to Makoto. Gou looked at the dancer's face. The dancer had dark pink eyes and blonde hair. He looked at the other two and smiled.

"You are all invited to my place tonight, ok?" He smiled at Gou.

Gou didn't really understand. Makoto and Haruka were debating until the blonde dancer pointed at Makoto, "He promised me!"

He waved as the brown haired boy shouted at him, "I didn't promise you anything!"

After the festivities were over for the day, the three of them walked towards their camels. The camels were fully rested and well for the day. Everyone had gone back home or decided to stay over at a nearby inn. Haruka took off his mask and walked towards his camel when someone had grabbed him by the arm.

"I finally found you!" He heard someone puff from behind him.

He looked to see that it was the blonde dancer. The dancer still had ringlets on his wrists. He had a see through green headdress that was propped onto his head. It made him look like a girl, and could possibly be seen as a prostitute, but everyone in town knew him. They were thanking the dancer for his beautiful performance and the dancer smiled and waved.

"Thanks! Come again to the next festival!"

Makoto and Gou watched as Haruka was being pulled away from them and they followed the blonde dancer into a large hut. It was even bigger than Makoto's home. There was a lot of accessories and light curtains that hung from the windows or the doors. The blonde dancer sat in the middle, surrounding himself in dozens of pillows.

"Where did you get all these from?" Gou asked.

"From being a dancer. I guess I'm famous enough to earn myself some of these, but I gave most of them away to the needy." He smiled, "Why don't you take off your mask, mistress?"

Gou gulped. She wasn't ready to be seen after just arriving in town. But the blonde dancer had gotten up and took off her mask as soon as she was thinking about it.

"Wait! NO...!" She exclaimed.

The mask was off, revealing her face. Makoto and Haruka couldn't do anything. The dancer held her mask in his hands and gasped. The cat was out of the bag.

"Wow, you're beautiful!" He told her.

"Wha-what?" She looked at him.

Maybe he didn't know who she was, "Doesn't she look familiar?" Makoto asked the dancer.

The dancer shook his head, "Have I seen her before? I don't think so. I've had many audiences and remember most of their faces, but no. Maybe I have seen you somewhere before."

Gou sighed, "My name is...Kou.

The dark pink eyes in the dancer were glistening. He looked at Makoto and Haruka, who introduced themselves quickly. The dancer smiled.

"Welcome! Kou-chan, Haru-chan, Mako-chan!" He yelled, "Welcome to the Town of Wind!"


	7. Chapter 7: Gou's Hesitation

The blonde boy posed and his large arm bands on his arms jangled, making a lot of noise. He smiled. Haruka and Makoto looked at each other. Gou sighed hoping that the blond boy didn't realize who she was. But the way he kept smiling and dancing around made her think that he didn't know who she was.

"Hey, hey, Kou-chan! Your hair is so cool! Were you born with that hair color?" The blond boy tiptoed to match her height.

"Y-yes. I was born with this." The princess stuttered.

"Lay off the 'Haru-chan'. I don't like being called that." Haruka told the blond.

"But, Haru-chan is Haru-chan!" The blond boy pointed at him.

Haruka sighed. The blond boy was obviously the type who didn't listen. But that must be one of his good points if the whole town knew him.

"By the way, we told you our names. What's yours?" Makoto asked.

The dark pink eyes glittered, "Oh! I never told you mine?"

The three travelers shook their heads.

"Well, I'm Nagisa! Nice to meet'cha!" He took their hands and shook them.

Nagisa's headdress bounced as he did. The travelers didn't expect much, but the blond boy was very rich. Although he was very generous, the boy kept a small bit of it with him. He had a couple of servants, but he treated them as equally as everyone else. The princess thought that this was strange since in her custom, the servants weren't allowed to dine or chat with their master or mistresses without their permission.

"Kou-chan must be a very wealthy girl!" Nagisa noted.

Gou jumped a bit, "Well, yes!" She quickly answered, "But I'm traveling away from home to learn different things and hope to be able to help people by meeting different ones."

Nagisa tried to whistle, "Wow! That's cool!"

During their conversations, Haruka told a bit of his stories from traveling since Nagisa wouldn't let them leave without some information of the outside world. Makoto told several stories of his family and the marketplace. Gou didn't know what to say since she was sheltered so much so that she had to constantly make eye contact with Haruka and pretend that he needed more water.

"By the way," Haruka looked at Nagisa, "Do you know where I can find water here?"

Nagisa laughed, "Well, you're drinking some now."

Haruka shook his head, "I mean, I'm in the search of water. A couple of years ago, our country was filled with water and then all of a sudden it was gone. Water can't disappear on its own."

Gou jumped again. She looked at Haruka and apologized for making such a noise and got up to leave. Haruka watched as she left and Makoto followed her.

"Well, to be honest, I don't really know how we get our water. All I know is that it came from a neighboring town that somehow got water from someplace filled with water." Nagisa answered.

Haruka understood, "So where is this neighboring town of yours?"

The blond boy pondered for a bit, "Umm...Oh! It should be northeast of here. I know someone there that can help you!"

The dancer gave the name and decided it was time for bed. He invited them to stay the night since it would be dangerous trying to see in the dark. He took Haruka into his room and then went to go look for Gou and Makoto. Haruka looked at the guestroom that he would be staying the night and noticed how exquisite it was. He wasn't used to this since he was always sleeping in a common room of the sort. But it didn't really matter. One night staying in an exquisite place shouldn't hurt. Before he climbed onto the bed he swiveled around and drew his blade at the throat of a girl.

"Whoa! It's me! It's me!" She waved her hands in an upward position.

"Oh, it's you..." Haruka said, "Kou."

She smiled. She disliked her name so much since it sounded so manly.

"Hey, why did you jump when I asked Nagisa about the water?" He asked and placed his blade into the sheathe.

Gou jumped again and was about to say something when Nagisa barged into the guestroom and told Gou that she had entered the wrong room. Gou giggled and left the room and apologized to the black haired boy. Haruka felt that she was hiding something, but it didn't matter right now. At least that's what he felt. He climbed onto the silk bed and wrapped himself in the blankets. It was warm. He snuggled in a bit more. Tomorrow they would have to leave for the neighboring town. He kept in mind the name that Nagisa had told them and then fell asleep. Gou opened her eyes and shielded her eyes from the sun. Someone had opened the window curtains. What idiot would do this so early in the morning? Wait...morning? She jumped from the bed, her hands clutching the blankets. Haruka was outside helping Nagisa's servants with the laundry.

"Good afternoon. You slept well." The blond boy appeared out of nowhere.

Gou fell out of the bed, "Nagisa! You shouldn't do that! You scared me!"

Nagisa laughed and twirled around, "Well, princess...Lunch is served!"

Gou gulped. Was he just using the word "princess" as part of the phrase? But Nagisa had disappeared and she got up from the floor. Haruka placed his hand in front of her and she grabbed it. He pulled her up and she blushed at his biceps. Makoto, who happened to see them, thought it was awkward how the princess would blush at the sight of muscles.

"Hey, you still didn't answer my question from yesterday night." Haruka mentioned.

"Ah! Err...Well, to be honest I know..." She started to say.

"WHAT'S GOING ON? I'M GOING TO EAT ALL YOUR LUNCH!" They heard Nagisa call them from the hallway.

They started to leave. Haruka watched as the red haired princess left. She was definitely hiding something. Oh well. He thought. It wasn't worth the time if she didn't want to answer. He walked towards the room that they had first entered in that night. The food was delicious. When Nagisa offered them another night to stay over, Haruka rejected the offer. He wanted to get to the next town as soon as possible. Makoto and Gou looked at him. They had forgotten the reason to travel. Makoto also rejected his offer and decided to go with Haruka. Maybe Haruka's information would be able to help his family back in his hometown. Gou decided to stay a bit longer to study their ways of doing things. Plus she didn't know how to answer Haruka. Haruka didn't object to her wishes and left to get his camel ready. Makoto followed him. Nagisa gave some fruits to the brown and black haired boy. As they left, the blond waved from his hut until he couldn't see them anymore.

"What's wrong Kou-chan?" The blond haired boy looked at her with a pondering face.

"No...It's nothing." She replied still looking at the distance where the two had left.

Makoto and Haruka were on the desert again. It wasn't very hot since they left a bit later than usual. A small cool breeze blew by them and within half an hour they had reached the northeast town that Nagisa had mentioned to Haruka.


	8. Chapter 8: Town of Foreigners

Haruka looked up. His headdress covered most of his face as a stronger wind blew by. The sun was still up, but judging by their shadows, it was past noon. His camel grunted and he looked up. The town was right in front of their eyes. Haruka looked behind him to see Makoto smiling at him. He turned around. Why was Makoto always smiling at him like that? Whenever the brown haired boy did that, he'd get this scary tingle. His innocence was just too much, Haruka guessed.

"We're here," he told the taller boy.

Makoto looked up and gasped at the beauty of the town. It was even more exquisite than Nagisa's hut. He felt down all of a sudden when they had passed the children, who were running and wearing expensive gold necklaces or arm bands. The town was a bit quieter than Nagisa's, probably because they went to their town during the festival. Several women were seen carrying woven baskets and bits of food were inside. The children played and, much to Haruka's demise, everyone was staring at them. Their clothes were out of place. Makoto was a bit embarrassed, but Haruka placed his hand on his shoulder.

"It's ok, don't worry about it." He told the brown haired boy.

They walked down the narrow street, eventually leaving their camels to a nearby fountain. The fountain was filled to the brim with water and Makoto had to stop Haruka from undressing in public for a swim. They walked for a bit and Haruka occasionally stopped several passing people to ask them where someone named "Rei" was. Several of them blushed when Haruka asked them this. They pointed down the road and told him to go to turn right after the colored hut's roof. Makoto looked at Haruka and wondered what he was thinking about. He didn't really understand why he was looking for Rei (since he was busy looking for the princess back the dancer's place). They turned right and in front of them was a large mansion, something they had never seen before.

"Hey! What are you two doing?" A pale boy asked.

The pale boy was holding onto a rifle. They were definitely not from around this part of the country. Haruka guessed that they were immigrants since rifles or guns were seen rarely in any part of their country. The boy was stopped another guard. The other guard told him that it was the end of his shift and that he would be willing to talk to the two travelers. The pale boy tried to start a fight when the other boy raised his rifle in front of his face. This seemed to get his attention as he walked quickly past the gate.

"Sorry, gentlemen. How can I help you?" The guard asked.

He speaked very fluently in their language that it caught Makoto off guard. He jumped a bit then smiled awkwardly and chuckled.

"Well, actually..." Makoto placed his hand on his head and chuckled a bit.

"We're looking for someone named 'Rei'." Haruka finished his sentence.

Makoto looked at the black haired boy and made a face. Makoto looked as if to say, "What if Rei is the one who lives in this mansion?! How will we get in?" Haruka just turned away.

"Don't give me the cold shoulder!" He cried.

"Well, what can I do for you?" The guard asked.

Haruka and Makoto looked at each other, "You're Rei?!" Makoto said a bit too loudly.

The boy jumped a bit from Makoto's yell. He adjusted his red glasses (probably a tool from the other country). His headdress was a bit different as well. It looked like a cap of some kind with a large feather attached. He was more nicely dressed than the other guard. The other guard was probably someone from town, because this guard was more upbringing or something. Makoto and Haruka couldn't put their finger on it.

"Yes, I am Rei. Sorry for having such a girly name," he adjusted his glasses again and began to sweat a bit, "So how can I help you two?"

Haruka sighed, "My name is Haruka. This is Makoto here," he pointed at the taller boy.

"I'm Makoto," The brown haired boy introduced himself.

"I'm looking for the source of where the water comes in," Haruka asked.

Rei looked at him closely. Obviously their clothes told the guard that they were commoners from different towns. Their clothes didn't look very pretty. He frowned a bit, but this wasn't something that they came to discuss about. Haruka looked at his clothes. They were dirty from the wind gusts that threw sand all over them from the blowing winds.

"I was referred here by Nagisa, the dancer from the neighboring town," the black haired boy tried to get his attention.

"NAGISA?!" Rei screamed.

He turned and grasped onto the wall. Was Nagisa someone that he didn't like? The travelers thought. Rei realized what he did wasn't very beautiful and turned quickly and adjusted his glasses again. He did a slight cough, pretending that he didn't do that.

"I'm sorry. Yes, I know Nagisa. Please come with me." The guard told him.

He turned again when the gates opened, "Welcome to the Town of Riches."


	9. Chapter 9: Gates of the Palace

Rei stepped onto the sand colored concrete, making the travelers wonder how it was possible to make such a thing. They stepped in, passing the gates and watched as several of the guards stood stiffly. The guards didn't budge. They only blinked several of times and that was it. Makoto whispered to the black haired boy, wondering if it was safe for them to enter.

"It's ok, don't worry about it," They heard Rei.

Rei knocked on the huge doors and they opened. Haruka stared at the doors for a bit. They were made of wood. Wood was kind of expensive nowadays, but the doors were made out of it. That must've been expensive judging by the size of it. Makoto walked ahead of the black haired boy. Rei waited for them inside and they sat on a couch. The couch was definitely not from their country.

"What country did you guys come from?" Makoto asked while looking from side to side of all the mysterious objects they had.

"Well, our employer came from England. It's a place farther than our country," Rei explained.

"Wait...you're born here?" Makoto looked at Rei.

Rei blushed and pushed his glasses towards his face, "I'm a mix."

He gloomed as he said this. He didn't think being a mix was beautiful. In fact, people often mistook him for his ethnicity. Makoto and Haruka thought that this was strange, but Rei seemed alright (judging from their experience with the first guard that they had met). Rei positioned his hand towards the couch, urging the travelers to sit. The brown haired boy sat first. He was quite wary of the strange furniture, but liked it afterwards. Haruka sat a bit farther away from Makoto.

"So you have a question for me?" Rei looked at Haruka.

Haruka nodded, "Where is the source of water? It's been missing for a long time."

Rei jumped a bit. It reminded Haruka of Gou when she jumped when he mentioned about the water. Rei sighed. This was clearly not the topic he thought they were going for. He pushed his glasses upwards again. He hesitated for a bit and then spoke.

"The King's son is misusing the water," he replied.

Makoto and Haruka looked at each other. Their own prince would do such a thing? Haruka realized why Gou was so nervous. Her own brother was stealing the water. No wonder water had suddenly become so expensive and almost disappeared. Makoto couldn't believe it. No wonder Gou was acting awkwardly when Haruka asked her _that_ question. Haruka stood up.

"I'm going to the palace." Haruka started to leave.

Rei stood up and watched the black haired boy leave. Makoto had stood up too.

"Are you coming with me?" Haruka looked at Makoto.

Makoto shook his head, "Not this time. Sorry. I'll meet up with you though."

Haruka ran out of the mansion almost as immediately as he came in. He ran towards his camel. The camel had gotten up quickly, seeing that its master was quick to leave. It started to run towards the direction its master had decided on as Haruka pulled on the reins. It would take approximately a couple more hours to reach the palace. If the camel would be able to go as quickly, it would take about 3 hours. But in between breaks, it would take a day. Haruka wanted to go as fast as he could, but after wearing his camel, they sat down and ended up resting for a bit. The sun had already set and Haruka's camel rested well. They left for the palace again. Instead, Haruka was in front, holding the reins of his camel and walked. The camel walked a bit farther away from him.

"We'll be there soon." Haruka murmured under his breath.

They continued to walk as the moon starts rising into the sky. They didn't take much breaks after that. Haruka felt his bones shudder as the cold wind blew at them, but he continued forward. After what seemed like forever, they had reached the gates of the palace.


	10. Chapter 10: The King's Son

Haruka looked above him. The gates of the palace were so intimidating, but Haruka wasn't scared. A guard from above shouted at him, but Haruka couldn't hear him well. The camel grunted and nudged his master a little forward.

"State your business!" Haruka heard the guard yell.

"I'm here to see the King's son." Haruka mumbled to himself.

The guard couldn't hear him and yelled even louder, "STATE YOUR BUSINESS!"

Haruka opened his mouth, hoping to sound a bit louder, "I'M HERE TO SEE THE KING'S SON."

The guard looked at him again from head to toe, "Do you have a referral?"

Haruka shook his head. The guard was annoyed, but he had to open the large gates. A few steps from the guard was a lever. The guard pulled on the lever and the gates started to slowly open. As the gates closed behind Haruka, several guards surrounded him. They didn't look very friendly, but as they inched closer to Haruka, his camel made a sort of noise that scared them.

"Strangers scare him easily." Haruka explained.

The guard from the top of the gates was in front of him now, "You must leave all your belongings here. We will inspect it. Follow me."

Haruka walked ahead, but looked back to see his camel surrounded by the strangers. the camel grunted and backed away like a dog that was afraid. The guards started to look at Haruka's belongings and tried to steal some of his valuables, but the camel wouldn't let them. Haruka made a signal from behind him and the camel saw it. It stayed down, allowing the nasty guards to touch him. Haruka continued walking away from his animal towards the castle. The castle was very large. It seemed even larger than the towns he traveled combined. Certainly the people living inside were insanely rich. Every head turned to look at Haruka for his plain clothes, but a lot of females were drooling over him. For being a plain guy, he sure was pretty. They entered the palace and the guards forced him to stand for hours at the entrance. Haruka was getting hungry and decided to have some mackerel or something that tasted similar, but the guard called him in.

"When you enter, please do not offend his majesty." The guard advised Haruka.

Haruka entered, both doors opened and he saw a brownish red haired boy, similar in age as he. He gave a horrible princely aura to Haruka. He wasn't the type the black haired boy could handle, but this was Princess Gou's brother. He was the source of the missing water.

"What do you want?" The prince asked.

Haruka watched as a pool of cleaned water stood in front of him. It was contained in a tank and two guards, holding pots on their heads with water stood and watched him. Haruka looked back at the prince. He was wearing lots of accessories and what seemed like a black vest. He didn't wear a headdress either.

"I want to know why you took all of our water." Haruka asked.

The guards from the doors threw their weapons at him, pointing their long swords at him. Haruka treated the prince as an equal, which no one had done before. The prince wasn't the slightest bit offended. He waved at them downwards and they drew their swords back into their sheaths.

"Why do you ask? What do you mean?"

Haruka noticed his teeth were sharp, like a sharks. Sharks weren't seen that often, but his was completely sharp. What in the world did this prince do to make his teeth so sharp?

"The source of the people's water have been missing for many months. And because of this, the merchants use their power to raise taxes for just a small cup of water." Haruka replied.

The guards started to mumble to each other and the prince just sat still, "You claim that the merchants steal the people's money?"

"Yes. Even your sister, who happened to journey with me, had stripped a certain merchant's title for the sake of safety in case a war starts between the people and the kingdom." Haruka replied.

The prince slightly moved to the left, placing his chin on his hand. He did not know this. But it didn't seem to really matter to him, because water meant power. Although he didn't like the court's methods in using water as power, there was certainly nothing he could do to help the people.

"I see. I will try to talk this over with my father. Do you have a place to stay traveler?" He asked Haruka.

Haruka shook his head, "I only meant to get this over with today."

The prince waved his guards away, they hesitated at first, but decided it better to leave, "Follow me."

He got off his chair, which wasn't very noble. In fact, the prince's chair looked normal. Although there were many lavishing things in the palace, the prince seemed well liked. He had a lot of commoner's things and tried to not use his power or wealth over anything. They walked towards the garden, where Haruka found his camel. They took it back with them and the prince showed them to their room.

"Excuse me, but...what is your name?" The prince asked.

"I'm Nanase. Nanase Haruka."

"Aha! A girly name," the prince chuckled (this made Haru frown at him), "just like me!"

Haruka was surprised. What did he mean by that?

"My name is Matsuoka. But you can call me Rin." He turned and smiled at Haruka, "Don't worry about the water incident. I'll make sure to tell my father today. Just stay over the night."

"Your majesty, are you sure?" A nearby guard asked.

"Sure! Why not? And stop calling me that! Just because I'm born a royal, doesn't make me less human than you all!" He sounded grumpy all of a sudden.

The guards and nearby maids chuckled. Haruka didn't react. Rin looked at him closely. The boy was a bit paler than he was, but his eyes were the same color as the water. An interesting color of blue.

"So Haru...Where did you meet my sister? Is she alright?"

Haru nodded, "She's fine. She's staying over at Nagisa's in the neighboring town."

He told the prince a couple of stories from his journey and how he ended up coming to the palace. Rin listened to him until he was forced to leave by his guard for his daily duties of studying the new era. He didn't want to go, in fact, he would have rather stayed with Haruka and listen to his stories of his travels.

"Sorry, I'll tell my father soon. So please wait here." Rin told him.

Haruka sat, staring at the shark teeth boy. His camel grunted after losing Haruka's attention for so long ever since they separated. Haruka stroked his camel's head and ended up sleeping on a bed similar to his back at his home.

"I hope I get to swim soon."


	11. Chapter 11: Change

The next morning came. Haruka was greeted with his camel's nasty tongue as it licked his entire face. Several servants laughed at him, but later gave him a towel to clean his face with water because it was starting to smell.

"Where is the prince?" Haruka asked.

The servant who was holding the bowl of water looked at him. She was quite small looking, maybe because she was younger than he. Haruka didn't think such a young girl would be working in the palace. She shook her head at his question. Was she not allowed to tell him? Just after he had finished cleaning his face, Rin arrived. The girl jumped. Something felt off to Haruka. He walked up to the prince and tried to touch his shoulder, but Rin just shoved his hand off.

"My father is dead." Rin whispered to himself.

But Haruka heard it. His eyes widened and slammed the prince against the wall, which caused some of the nearby servants to scream. The young girl dropped her bowl on the floor, losing every ounce of water as it left a mess on the palace floor. Some servants got on their knees and started to beg for forgiveness.

"Let go of me." Rin snapped.

"No. What about the source of the water? What are you going to do?" Haruka asked before he let go of the prince.

Some guards raced towards the room and chained up Haruka. As they dragged him away, Haruka looked at Rin one last time before he was unable to see him. Rin was wallowing in pain. Something had happened. The guards put Haruka in the dungeon. It was worse than the room he was in just earlier, but it didn't matter. What he did was unforgivable, but he was able to get one thing through. He would probably never be able to swim again. He closed his eyes, thinking of the time when his grandmother had brought him someplace to swim.

"Hey! It's Haru-chan!" He heard a familiar voice.

Walking down the dungeon was Nagisa, along with Gou. They weren't locked up, which confused him.

"How did you get here?" Haruka asked.

"We were invited here by Rei-chan!" Nagisa smiled.

"SHUSH!" Rei pushed his eye glasses up farther towards his face, "We're not supposed to be down here!"

"Well it's alright as long as I'm down here." Gou told herself out loud.

The three of them stared at Gou. Gou noticed that she spoke out loud and brushed it off quickly. Haruka sighed. They were probably here just to sightsee since Nagisa looked so giddy about looking in the dungeons. Rei looked at Haruka and wondered why he was behind bars.

"What did you do?" Rei and Gou asked.

"I pushed the prince to the wall when I was asking him about his father." Haruka mumbled to himself.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" Rei screamed.

Gou and Nagisa had to shush him because a guard came in wondering where the loud voice came from. The guard looked at Haruka, thinking it was him and told him to shut up and just think about his punishment. The others didn't understand what was going on, but Gou couldn't handle it anymore.

"You!" She pointed at him.

The guard got on his knee and bowed, not looking her in the eye. Nagisa was confused.

"Your majesty! What are you doing down here?" The guard asked her.

Nagisa and Rei looked at each other. Your Majesty?! They looked at the red haired princess and cried out, "YOUR MAJESTY?!"

Haruka sighed, they were being too noisy. Just then, Rin came in. He saw Nagisa and Gou. Nagisa glowered when he saw Rin and looked at him.

"AHHH! It's Rin-chan! What're you doing here?" Nagisa asked.

Gou dropped to her knees, "Big brother! Why do you have Haruka-san in the dungeon? What he did wasn't a huge crime, so please let him go!"

"Gou, do you know what happened to dad?" Rin placed his head downwards, his hair covering his eyes so that she couldn't read his emotions.

"No, what are you talking about? Why isn't dad here?" She started to panic.

"Dad is dead."

Gou looked at her brother. She couldn't see his eyes. Nagisa and Rei pulled her up to her legs and tried to keep her steady. The guard unlocked the dungeon where Haruka was held and set him free. Haruka climbed out and stared at Rin. What happened to the happy boy just a few moments ago? He couldn't see his face, but he walked past Rin. As they all exited the dungeons, Makoto was there. He jumped as he saw Haruka.

"Haru?! What happened to you?!"

He looked really anxious, but Haruka didn't say anything. He just kept on walking. The prince and princess watched as Rei, Nagisa, Makoto and Haruka left. Rin suddenly remembered something and ran off. Meanwhile, Gou ran up to Haruka and asked him what had happened to her brother. He had changed so much she didn't recognize if he was her brother anymore.

"I don't know." Haruka replied, "Something in him changed."


	12. Chapter 12: Murder in the Palace

Haruka and the others left. Princess Gou decided to stay in the palace for her father. Her brother would be the next king. Nagisa invited everyone to stay over at his hut in the city. Everyone was gloomy, especially Haruka. Nothing seemed to go right anymore (at least to Haruka since he didn't

get to swim). Rei distanced himself from Nagisa, who suddenly pounced on him.

"REI-CHAN!" the blonde screamed.

"Stop!" Rei tried to stop him.

The blonde was latched onto Rei. Rei disliked how carefree the boy was. Sometimes it would cause him reckless trouble. Haruka was busy brushing off a smudge from his face from the dungeon. They were all staying at an inn near the palace. Haruka wouldn't dare leave. He wanted an answer. Makoto stared at Haruka. They were all sitting on the floor getting ready for dinner. The inn provided expensive looking food, but Haruka was the only one not eating. He just stared at his bowl in front of him. Makoto stop eating sometimes to look at Haruka. The younger boys were busy. Rei was trying very hard to get the blonde dancer off of him. Haruka suddenly stood up and walked away.

"HARU-CHAN!" Makoto called out to him.

The brown haired boy sat still. There was definitely nothing he could do. Just the thought of Haruka suffering because he couldn't swim seemed awkward, but Haruka didn't like it. Rei and Nagisa stopped and watched the black haired boy leave. They looked at each other and Makoto gave them a sad look. Nagisa got off of Rei, who pushed up his glasses when Nagisa tried to take his glasses away from him.

"Haruka-san must not be feeling well." Rei said.

"Haru-chan might have fought with the King's son. I don't get what really happened, but the King passed away." Nagisa replied.

They started to feel gloomy and Makoto tried to cheer them up with the expensive food in front of them. They all sat and ate, except for Makoto. The food was too fattening that he only had to eat a bit to feel full. He remembered how his family wasn't wealthy enough to eat till they were full. He asked if it was possible to take some of the food home. Nagisa nodded. Makoto stood up with Haruka's bowl in his hand. He walked over to Haruka's room and opened the curtain. Haruka was on his bed. It looked like he was moping and Makoto accidentally let out a small chuckle and then coughed.

"Haru-chan, you should definitely eat something." He placed the bowl next to Haruka.

Haruka looked at Makoto first and then sat upright and started to eat. After he was finished, Gou suddenly appeared. She was crying. Makoto and Haruka walked up to her and tried to comfort her. But she mumbled something that surprised them both.

"Someone murdered my father." She continued to sob and then said, "He was drowning in the bath and I noticed when I passed by the counselor's hut that they said it was done."

Nagisa and Rei showed up and they noticed Gou was crying. Something in the palace went really wrong now.

"But there's something else..." Gou tried to stop crying, but the tears went out faster than her words, "They're planning on killing my brother as well."


End file.
